Indian $5 Half Eagles, 1908-1929

Bela Lyon Pratt of Boston, Massachusetts designed the "Indian Head" Half Eagles. These coins, as well as the "Indian Head" $2.50 Quarter Eagles, are the only United States Federal coins minted using a technique of impressing the design of a coin by striking called incuse. Unlike most other coins, an incuse coin does not have raised edges. Perhaps the most distinguished feature of an incuse coin is the design devices and legend, although still in relief, lie below the plane of the surface of the coin.

The opinion of the general public on this radically new design was mixed; however, it was apparent that some controversy was inevitable. In fact, noted numismatist Samuel Chapman wrote to President Roosevelt at the time, exclaiming that the coins lacked beauty; were easily counterfeited; unhygienic and did not form stacks of equal height. The man who originally suggested the incuse design to the President, Dr, Bigelow, then rebuked Mr. Chapman's remarks to the President. Despite these outbursts, 14,078,976 Indian Head Half Eagles were minted between 1908 to 1929. No coins were minted between the years of 1917 and 1928.

Unlike the Indian Head $2.50 Quarter eagle, the Indian Head $5 Half Eagle series is a much more difficult set to build and is therefore not often attempted. It consists of 24 Business Strike coins and 8 Proofs, many of which are prohibitively rare in any uncirculated condition. Philadelphia minted coins for each of the 10 years represented in Business Strike and Proofs between 1908 and 1915. Denver minted Business Strike coins in 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1914. San Francisco minted 9 Business Strike coins between 1908 and 1916. New Orleans minted 1 Business Strike coin in 1909. These coins can vary widely in price depending upon grade, and are most often found in About Uncirculated-50 to Mint State-63 conditions.

There have been four major sets of Indian Head $5 Half Eagles to appear at public auction over the past decade. Most recently, the Peter Bronson collection realized $294,197 on August 13, 1999. 21 of these coins were certified as Mint State-64. The 1909-O graded MS63 and there were two MS65's (1911 and 1913). The Dr. Thaine B. Price set realized a record $1,049,400 on May 18, 1998. On August 11, 1990, the Dr. Steven Duckor set realized $581,745. One major set appeared for sale at the 1997 American Numismatic Association Convention Sale in New York City by Kevin Lipton for over $1 million dollars. This set was similar in scope and grade to the Duckor set sold in 1990, however, several coins were graded higher and four proof issues were substituted for the more commonly encountered Business Strikes. It was later sold to a prominent dealer for an undisclosed sum and believed broken up and sold separately. The Robert Kruthoffer complete 32-piece Business Strike and Proof set offered for public auction sale by Paramount in September of 1981 realized $250,950 and was virtually of the equal quality to the two Price and Duckor sets.

Designed by: Bela Lyon Pratt
Issued Date: 1908-1929
Composition: 0.900 parts gold, 0.100 parts copper
Diameter: 21.6 mm
Weight: 129 grains
Edge: Reeded
Mint marks: Philadelphia (none); Denver (D); New Orleans (O); San Francisco (S)
Total Business strike mintage: 14,078,066
Total Proof strike mintage: 1,079

Obverse: Depicts a male Indian head facing left with full-feathered headdress. The legend LIBERTY is above the head. The date minted is below the head. The designer's initials BLP appear above the date. Six stars appear in front of the face and seven behind the head.

The model for the obverse design is reported to be Chief Thundercloud of the Blackfoot tribe. Chief Thundercloud was enlisted in the United States army in 1872 as a scout. After his service, he toured in a theatrical company and eventually met Buffalo Bill, who also entertained the general public with his Wild West show at the turn of the century. Chief Thundercloud then began a full-time career as a professional model for various artists. He was 59 years old before he died in 1916.

Reverse: Depicts an American or white-headed eagle facing left perched on a bundle of arrows with an olive branch secured under leading right talon. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA runs along the circumference above the eagle near the rim. In the field behind and to the left of the eagle is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM. In the field in front of and to the right of the eagle is the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. Below the bundle of arrows and along the circumference below the eagle is the denomination 5 DOLLARS. The New Orleans, Denver and San Francisco mintmarks can be located to the left and at the tips of the arrows.